A brief disclaimer before I begin my review of Jordan B. Peterson’s (JP for short), 12 Rules for Life. I am quite familiar with JP’s teachings and life phisophy, since for the past four odd years I have watched several dozen of his videos on YouTube on an allmost weekly basis. As a result many of the intriguing anecdotes, stories and even life rules that he imparts in 12 Rules For Life are very familiar to me. Nevertheless, I still felt it would be a useful exercise to delve a bit deeper into JP’s approach to life by searching for the 5-10% of his ideas that I had not encountered previously.
With that said, I found 12 Rules For Life, to be a enlightening book of wisdom which made me reflect more deeply on my own life and it’s myriad of ups and downs. Each of JP’s life rule is stated at the beginning of every chapter, which is therafter elucidated through a well thought out series of anecdotes, stories and at times intense philosophical meditation. The 12 rules are in their own right worth learning about, not per se because they are so earth shattering in their revelation, but because JP is a very learned and experienced man who has spent a significant amount of time reflecting on life (much more than most people have ever done or will ever do) and has distilled the most valuable insights that he has gleaned. Regardless of his political leanings or imperfections as a human being, I feel this is a meaningful and tremendously valuable contribution to humanity, especally to those who are younger and less experienced. So I highly appreciate this book and would recommend it to anyone who is serious about changing their life for the better and seeking to lead a (more) meaningful existence. My only minor criticism of 12 Rules For Life is that it is at times very dense philosophically and JP has a slightly ‘wordy’, rambling writing style. It is worth noting that his English is impeccably polished, which made it a very pleasant read, as he has excellent command of all facets of the language. Of all the rules that JP shares in 12 Rules For Life, I found a handful resonated most with me due to my life experience and situation in life. These are: Rule 2 (Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping), Rule 4 (Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today), Rule 7 (Pursue what is meaningful – not what is expedient), Rule 8 (Tell the truth – or at least, don’t lie), and Rule 9 (Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t). Naturally, I expect it might be very different for you. Happy reading!
Have you read 12 Rules For Life? What rule(s) resonated most with you and why? Please feel free to share your thoughts in a comment below. Thanks as always for stopping by! Also, if you would like to receive more updates about my writing please consider joining my newsletter mailing list by subscribing below.